Treasure-hunting at home challenge

zarazara

I found a wicker basket for storage so I didnt need to buy a fancy box

bellaquidsin

What a super thread. I'm on a similar campaign which I have dubbed my 'Use it up' campaign but love the idea that I am in fact unearthing buried treasure.

At the moment I am working on my yarn stash. So far with leftover yarn I and a couple of balls I have bought to consolidate it I have made two pink ripple crochet baby blankets and am now working on a third (blue) one. I have also nearly finished a multicoloured granny squares one so with what was just odds and ends of leftover yarn I have produced four potential presents for babies to come. There were none on the horizon when I started a few week's ago but now one has a name on it.

There's lots of fine crochet yarn in my stash to work on and hopefully more pressies will transpire. I unearthed a book I'd forgotten which will help with this.

And then there's the material, cushion covers maybe and bags.

It's amazing how much we actually have when we look around us and stop spending. Mind you I could still be tempted to spend but as a newbie OAP I have to learn to curb the urge.

Anyway, I need to use all this stuff up before I die;)

Bella.

[Deleted User]

I cannot bear to not use anything so as I do a lot of crafting my family 'donate' all their old birthday/christmas cards to me .
I sat and recycled loads of trimmings off them today, even cutting around the 'Happy Christmas' message bit with pinking shears and put in an old Celebrations tin for using at craft class, and the back bit of the cards which is the bit the message is written on I cut to even sized squares and use as shopping lists. I have an old ice cream tub that they are in by the phone with a pen so I can write down any message staright away or use to write out what I only 'need' when I go to the shops.
I always save the pretty bows and ribbons in another tin and they all get used up eventually, save a fortune instead of going to Hobbycraft.
I decide that as the weather is getting better I will emulsion my porch and I found some white emulsion that will do nicely as its only a tiny porch and the mirror in there I have taken down and have put masking tape around it and will paint the frame light blue with another odd half tin of paint I found as at the moment its a light brown colour so I thought I'd spruce it up a bit.By next week end my porch will look rather smart and it hasn't cost a tanner :jIt's amazing what you can find when you have a rummage around in forgotten places

beemuzed

This is a great thread - it's made me decide that I realy must sort out the large top cupboards of our built-in wardrobe. Stufffed to bursting, they are, and I never go into them, so there must be loads of things I could use/pass on.
Your porch will look great JackieO - all ready to greet the Spring!

[Deleted User]

bellaquidsin wrote: »

What a super thread. I'm on a similar campaign which I have dubbed my 'Use it up' campaign but love the idea that I am in fact unearthing buried treasure.

At the moment I am working on my yarn stash. So far with leftover yarn I and a couple of balls I have bought to consolidate it I have made two pink ripple crochet baby blankets and am now working on a third (blue) one. I have also nearly finished a multicoloured granny squares one so with what was just odds and ends of leftover yarn I have produced four potential presents for babies to come. There were none on the horizon when I started a few week's ago but now one has a name on it.

There's lots of fine crochet yarn in my stash to work on and hopefully more pressies will transpire. I unearthed a book I'd forgotten which will help with this.

And then there's the material, cushion covers maybe and bags.

It's amazing how much we actually have when we look around us and stop spending. Mind you I could still be tempted to spend but as a newbie OAP I have to learn to curb the urge.

Anyway, I need to use all this stuff up before I die;)

Bella.

It is amazing to find what treasures we already have isn't it? Well done on using your yarn stash. I bet the baby blankets are going to be treasures for those grandchildren:j

[Deleted User]

JackieO wrote: »

I cannot bear to not use anything so as I do a lot of crafting my family 'donate' all their old birthday/christmas cards to me .
I sat and recycled loads of trimmings off them today, even cutting around the 'Happy Christmas' message bit with pinking shears and put in an old Celebrations tin for using at craft class, and the back bit of the cards which is the bit the message is written on I cut to even sized squares and use as shopping lists. I have an old ice cream tub that they are in by the phone with a pen so I can write down any message staright away or use to write out what I only 'need' when I go to the shops.
I always save the pretty bows and ribbons in another tin and they all get used up eventually, save a fortune instead of going to Hobbycraft.
I decide that as the weather is getting better I will emulsion my porch and I found some white emulsion that will do nicely as its only a tiny porch and the mirror in there I have taken down and have put masking tape around it and will paint the frame light blue with another odd half tin of paint I found as at the moment its a light brown colour so I thought I'd spruce it up a bit.By next week end my porch will look rather smart and it hasn't cost a tanner :jIt's amazing what you can find when you have a rummage around in forgotten places

I'd love to see a picture of your little porch when you've done your no-expense makeover:T

I had some leftover handmade paper, with flowers embedded in, and some pretty ribbon. I had some inspiration and covered a hard-covered plain notebook with the paper. I slipped a ribbon through the coils of the spine and tied in a secure bow. Then inside the front I stuck little left-over embellishments. To finish, I stamped tiny cups of coffee onto card and stuck them randomly over too. I'm proud to say that this was one of my more successful creative moments. It looks beautiful and is now in the gift drawer for a girlie birthday present:)

luxor4t

I am making a 'free' string patchwork quilt, using up the odds & ends of fabric that I'm too mean to throw out. I'm now up to 30 8 inch squares - about a third of the way, and not a penny spent. I've even been able to use up the odds & ends of sewing thread from various projects over the last 10 years

Details here: http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/string_piecing.htm

[Deleted User]

luxor4t wrote: »

I am making a 'free' string patchwork quilt, using up the odds & ends of fabric that I'm too mean to throw out. I'm now up to 30 8 inch squares - about a third of the way, and not a penny spent. I've even been able to use up the odds & ends of sewing thread from various projects over the last 10 years

Details here: http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/string_piecing.htm

That looks brilliant. :T Let us know how it turns out.

bellaquidsin

Such fantastic ideas on here, my head is so bursting I can hardly sleep at night.

Following on from my crochet blankets I am now left with tiny amounts of various colours, going to investigate making them into flowers and creating another blanket that way.

Some of my fine crochet cotton is going to be made into flowers to add to homemade greetings cards as embellishments. I sell these, so should be truly able to turn them into 'treasure'.

Saw recently in a Lake£and catalogue (don't usually let myself look in there, everything is so 'wantable' and way beyond my pocket) some divider mats for protecting pans during storage. This morning I remembered that I had saved some thin polystyrene sheets from packaging and have made myself four such mats for nothing.

Bella.

OlGreeneyes

Hey, Budgeteer!
I was all set to go and buy myself some badly needed new towels, then came across some 'old' ones I'd put aside for rags. I chucked some in the washing machine on 95 degrees (went in yellowish and came out brilliant white!) and cut a frayed bath towel down to a hand towel and a couple of face cloths and trimmed them with bias binding in matching colours. Now I have more towels than I know what to do with, have saved a nice few pounds and got in a bit of practise with my under-used sewing machine!
I'm now on a mission to make-do-and-mend more and only spend as a last resort.